LAD #37: Brown vs., Board of Education, Topeka, Kansas

Third grader, Linda Brown, had to walk a mile in a dangerous and rough area to get to a black school when there was a public school one block away. The separation of schools was made legal by the “Plessy vs. Ferguson” court case. The case states that as long as the schools were separate but equal they were okay. However, many believed that the schools were not as equal as they were promised to be. The defense argued that the segregation was preparing the colored children for the segregation that they would face the rest of their lives. Eventually, the Supreme Court overrode the ruling and united the schools. Although some backlash occurred, it was a great step towards quality.  

LAD 36: Truman Doctrine

The American government did not want to leave the Greek government alone due to the utter destruction they faced after being liberated from German control. The Greeks did not have any funds to rebuild and asked for assistance before they were taken over by communists. The Unites States is eager to supply that assistance because they do not like communism and do not want it to spread. The United States had more money than most other countries. Even the United Nations was unable to help. The Greek government had been running in chaos. In addition to Greece needing help, Turkey was also in need. Truman felt it was America’s duty to preserve order out in the Middle East. However, a major problem was that many people did not want any more government involvement. The U.S. needed to give the money or more detrimental issues and problems could come up. 

LAD #35: FDR's Executive Order #9066

After the horrific bombing on Pearl Harbor, President Roosevelt and the American people were cautious when dealing with any Japanese. The wariness was mostly directed to the Japanese living in America because people thought they might be spies relaying secret information back over to Japan. Because of all the paranoia , FDR's Executive Order #9066 was put into action. FDR's Executive Order #9066 set up concentrated military areas that held Japanese families. This was they were far and isolated from the American citizens. Nearly 120,000 Japanese were held in these relocation camps. Some other ethnic people were imprisoned here however the camps centered their attention on the internment of Japanese.

LAD #34: FDR's Declaration of War

President Roosevelt asked Congress for a declaration of war against the Japanese soon after the attack on Pearl Harbor in December of 1941. He was confident in the United States armed forces and relied on the fact that people of the nation would come together to fight against the Japanese. When FDR brought the declaration to Congress, he asked the members to think about what could happen to the nation if we let the Japanese off the hook with no punishment. Not only had the Japanese acted aggressively in Pearl Harbor, but also at Midway and Hong Kong. With all of these violent acts under their belt, they clearly were not looking to make a peace treaty with the U.S. any time soon. Roosevelt's main argument to Congress was that war was necessary in order to protect the American people. In addition to protecting the people, declaration of war on Japan would enter the U.S. into WWII and also end the Great Depression.

LAD #33: FDR's First Inaugural Address

On March 4^th, 1933, former New York governor, Franklin D. Roosevelt gave his inaugural address. First off, he says that the nation will be revived and flourish once again. This speech is also where he spoke the famous line of “the one thing we have to fear is fear itself.” With the support of the American people he believed America as a nation could achieve anything it wanted. Roosevelt discusses the issues of the rising taxes and the inability to pay them. He also understood the hardship that the farmers were facing; they could not find markets to sell the produce too and therefore they were very poor. Farmers were not the only poor ones. Many people were unemployed; FDR’s goal was to get people back to work. With the help of communication and transportation, people could return to work in the industrial growing cities. Besides the domestic problems, FDR also talked about the foreign policy. He wanted America to be seen as a “good neighbor” just like how it was with Teddy Roosevelt. FDR closes by saying that his main job is to listen to what the people have to say.

LAD #32: Kellogg Briand Peace Pact

The Kellogg Briand Peace Pact was created just after the end of The Great War to outlaw future war between nations. Several countries signed this pact, including the United States and France, saying that they would not go to war with each other. It the countries stuck to their promise then major world conflict would not be an issue again. There was a hope that by creating this treaty, other countries not part of this treaty would make their own peace treaties with other nations. The main goal of this pact was to avoid war and create different ways to solve conflict that came up. Each country that signed this had their government promise that they would respect the pact and avoid future problems at all cost.

LAD #31: Wilson’s 14 Points

At the finish of The Great War, President Woodrow Wilson created his fourteen points in order to create peace at Versailles. His plans were lenient because he knew that forgiveness and charity towards all would be the most effective strategy. Sadly, the other Ally forces thought his solution was not harsh enough to tame the vengeful Germany. Wilson’s fourteen points included the removal of economic barriers, equal trade, no private diplomacy, a reduction of arms and military, future colonies would be able to determine their own sovereignty, lastly the League of Nations would be formed. Despite all of the restrictions, the Allies still demanded more. In the end, Wilson made several compromises in order to include the ones who wanted to be in the treaty. 

LAD #30: Schenck vs. US Case

Socialist advocate, Charles Schenck, believed that The Great War would solely benefit the rich and in fact hurt the poor. Schenck participated in various anti-war activities that violated the Espionage Act in order to support his cause. Then in 1917, he was arrested because he was working against the war efforts. However, he appealed his case to the Supreme Court because he believed that the Espionage Act was a violation of the first amendment (the freedom of speech). Sadly, the court decided to uphold his conviction. Holmes said that Schenck’s actions were a “clear and present danger” to the country because he was working against the war effort, but he believed that some rights had to be sacrificed for the good of the nation during wartime.

LAD #29: Keating-Owen Child Labor Act

Although big business helped the nation prosper in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century it also came with a host of problems. The conditions in the factories were dangerous and the workers were put through long hours of grueling work only to receive little pay. Children also faced hazardous conditions. Maybe even more so than the adults. The Keating-Owen Child Labor Act tried to reform the hardships that were faced by the child laborers. It also indirectly restricted child labor in order to open up more jobs for men. The Act prohibited the sale of goods made in factories by kids under the age of 14 and also prohibited the operation of mines by kids under the age of 16 years. Lastly, it prevented children under the age of 16 to work more than eight hours a day. 

LAD #28: Wilson's First Inaugural

In the 1912 election, Taft (Republican) and Roosevelt (Progressive) each won some of the Republican votes, therefore, splitting the Republican Party allowing Woodrow Wilson (Democrat) to win the election. During his First Inaugural Address, Wilson talked about the need for change in society and the morals of the American people. He realizes that although the Industrial Revolution was successful, there were also many underlying issues. For example, corruption. He understood that the government’s policy of laissez faire needed to change. Wilson promised reforms such as pure food laws, labor conditions, and sanitary laws. Throughout his presidency, Wilson carried out these promises through the Pure Food and Drug Act. Ultimately, his goal was to give the nation a makeover and reform several areas to help the people.  

LAD #27: The Clayton Anti-Trust Act

Monopolies such as Standard Oil were changing the prices of their goods based on the consumer.  The Clayton Anti-trust Act made this illegal because it stated that businesses and corporations could no longer have different prices for different consumers. Thus, competition between corporations became fairer. In addition, the Act also banned the practice of making buyers only buy one company’s goods and services. This act was one of the early steps in government action after their period of laissez faire. The government started to realize that businesses were gaining so much power and that it was becoming dangerous. The Clayton Anti-trust Act set up a solid framework for ending the era of monopolies and helping to make the business world a fairer environment. 

LAD #26: MLK's 'I Have a Dream' Speech

Martin Luther King Jr. gave his famous ‘I Have a Dream ‘ speech in March, 1963 at the Lincoln Memorial, in Washington D.C with a crowd of about two hundred thousand civil rights supporters listening. His speech was about how one day he wished that everyone would share the same vision of equality that he did. Despite the passing of the Emancipation Proclamation by Abraham Lincoln, MLK felt that the Negro community in America was continuously being oppressed and endured suffering. He encouraged the Negro’s to rise and walk with the whites with the goal that one day they would live happily in a world where all men were truly created equal. The fight for equality had already begun so there was no turning back. MLK hoped that one day there would be no more segregation and the his children would not be "judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character."

LAD #25: Dawes Severalty Act

In 1887 the Dawes Act was passed. This act took Native American’s land and split it into individual properties. The Native Americans were then relocated to a predetermined area specifically set aside for them. Each person was given a certain amount of land and whoever was registered as the head of the family received one-quarter of the land. The land however was still controlled by the government so the Native Americans did not get to keep the land forever. Native Americans who were not granted an area of land were allowed to live anywhere else in the United States. In addition to distributing individual land plots, the Dawes Act also granted the Native Americans equal rights and the benefits of being under American law. After twenty-five years this act became invalid. 

LAD 24 - Bryan’s “Cross of Gold Speech"

On July 9th, 1896, William Jennings Bryan, spoke at the Democratic National convention in Chicago. First he talked about the true valve of an American worker and how important they are. Bryan believed that the coinage of silver would help the hurting economy. By sharing his feelings he was not looking to start a fight, but in fact he wanted to clear to air and fix the problem. He believed in income tax and felt that the nation needed a leader who could distribute the wealth to the people. He understands that many city people support the gold standard and tries to explain to them that their wealth comes from the poor and the poor need the coinage of silver. 

LAD #23 - Populist Party Platform

Preamble: 

  - country is run in corruption 

  - goal: restore the government to help people have their say and influence that has been  lost

  - populist party wants:

            -labor unions to stay legal

            -railroad will belong to the people or if the government steps in the corporation owns the people

            -a man should receive his full profit without industry taking it away 

Finance:

  - demanded a free coinage of gold and silver 

  - wanted the amount of circulation to increase

  - believed that the countries money should be held in the hands of who provide for it and profit from      it 

Land/Transportation:

  - telephones, telegraphs, and railroads should be run by the government for the good of the people 

Overall, the party wanted to compromise with the government in order to benefit America as a whole and have it prosper in the upcoming years. 

LAD #22: McKinley's War Message

President McKinley addressed Congress in the spring of 1898 to discuss the war between Cuba and its mother county, Spain. The war was affecting American trade with those countries and many people were becoming anxious over in America. McKinley urged Congress to somehow try and stop the war. One suggestion was to use neutral intervention in order to create a compromise between Cuba and Spain. A second and easier option was to pick one side and fully support it. After further analyzing, McKinley decided that neutral intervention would be more beneficial for the U.S. despite the fact that it would be more difficult to execute. He said that the U.S. must recognize its relation to the conflict because its citizens have the right to protection and property. The U.S. was related to the conflict because of political, economical, and social reasons, and after the ordeal with the Maine, there U.S. was highly involved. McKinley did not have the power to end the war; it was left up to Congress.